Hiring a Live-In Domestic Worker in Cyprus: Permits, Costs & Process (2026)

Employing a live-in domestic worker — a housemaid, nanny or carer, usually from outside the EU — is a well-established route for Cypriot and expat households alike. But the process is employer-led, the paperwork is real, and much of what ranks on Google about it describes rules that no longer exist. This guide sets out the current position: who qualifies, the step-by-step process, what it genuinely costs and what you take on as an employer — checked against the Migration Department's official domestic-work rules (posted 31 December 2025, so current for 2026) and the official employment contract.

Everything here applies to the Republic of Cyprus only — the process is different in the north. And a note on what we are: Cyprus Nanny is a listing platform where families and helpers deal with each other directly. We explain the process; we don't act in it.

Who can hire

The scheme is income-tested. To employ a third-country national as a domestic worker, your household must meet one of these annual gross income thresholds:

Note the over-65 rules: an elderly couple qualifies at €24,000 and a person over 65 living alone at just €18,000 — deliberately lower thresholds, because elderly care is one of the scheme's main purposes.

Some employers are exempt from the income test entirely:

• people certified by the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities;
• beneficiaries of the Guaranteed Minimum Income;
• beneficiaries of the Low Pensioners' Allowance and of the Incapacity and Invalidity Pension.

Two further rules surprise people. First, a male domestic worker may only be employed where the employer has severe mobility limitations (for example, is bedridden or has a severe disability), supported by a specialist doctor's certificate. Second, the default is one worker per household — two are allowed where the employer is bedridden or overweight, and up to three in defined severe-disability cases or where annual gross family income is at least €100,000.

Who you can hire

There are two completely different paths, and it pays to know which one you're on before you start:

EU / EEA citizens — no work permit at all

Citizens of EU and EEA countries have free access to employment in Cyprus. No entry permit, no work permit, no income test for you. If they stay longer than three months they must apply for a Registration Certificate (MEU1) within four months of entering — a €20 fee, a decision within a month, and the certificate never expires. (Skipping registration exposes the worker to a penalty of up to €2,500, so it's worth doing properly.) You still have real employer duties — registering with Social Insurance and paying contributions — but none of the permit process below applies.

Third-country nationals — the live-in permit scheme

Everyone else needs an entry permit and a temporary residence and work permit, applied for by you (or your authorised representative) as the employer. The rest of this guide covers this path. The worker must have basic knowledge of Greek or English — waived only where a foreign-national employer permanently resident in Cyprus hires a worker who speaks their own language. One hard exclusion: nationals of Myanmar and Ethiopia are not permitted to enter Cyprus for domestic work.

A pay note that surprises people: the official €460 minimum salary for domestic workers applies "regardless of the country of origin of the domestic worker" — it's written to cover EU hires too. In practice, EU and local workers are usually hired live-out at market rates several times that figure; the €460 package really describes the live-in permit arrangement, where room and board are part of the deal.

Browse who's actually available before you commit to the paperwork — profiles of housemaids and carers across Cyprus list experience, languages and whether they're already in the country.

The process step by step

1. Confirm you qualify and gather the documents

The entry-permit application (Form MDW3) needs a substantial document pack. The official checklist includes:

• the worker's passport, valid at least 6 months beyond the requested permit;
• original medical test results from the worker's home country (hepatitis B and C, HIV, syphilis, and a chest X-ray for tuberculosis), no more than 4 months old, duly certified;
• an original clean criminal record certificate from the country of origin, no more than 6 months old;
• proof of the worker's Greek or English;
• your ID (and your spouse's), plus proof of your income — a salary statement or a Tax Department certificate;
• the signed employment contract plus two copies;
• a signed declaration that you will cover repatriation costs;
• children's birth certificates where a child-based income threshold applies.

All entry-permit documents must be officially translated and duly certified. The forms are downloadable from the Migration Department's domestic-work forms page.

2. Sign the official contract

The employment contract is the Migration Department's own template, and it is the legal backbone of the whole arrangement — it fixes the salary, hours, leave and both sides' obligations. Since 1 January 2026 employment contracts attract no stamp duty (before that, each copy typically carried a €2 stamp).

3. Submit the application

Applications are submitted only at the Department's application submission offices (check whether your district needs an appointment). The fees must be paid at submission. Honest note: the current official pages do not publish the euro amount of the permit fee — the application form says only that "the fee provided for in the legislation" must be paid. Confirm the current figure with the Civil Registry and Migration Department when you book.

4. Wait for the examination

The Department completes the examination and issues the temporary residence and work permit within four months— but that clock only runs on a complete application. Missing documents suspend the time limit, which is where most delays come from. If the application is approved you're informed by letter and collect the permit; if it's rejected, the letter sets out the reasons.

5. The worker enters Cyprus

On approval you're notified and the entry permit lets the worker travel to Cyprus.

6. After arrival: registration, biometrics and insurance

The post-arrival document list is its own mini-project:

• medical tests repeated in Cyprus and certified by a doctor in the Republic (you pay for these);
• biometrics (photo, fingerprints) and signature — taken at submission or shortly after at the District Immigration Unit of the Police;
• registration in the Aliens Register and the application for the temporary residence and work permit itself;
• health cover: at first registration private inpatient/outpatient insurance isn't required because the State Health Services Organisation covers care — but once the worker registers with GESY you must tell the Department, and a private policy covering transportation of mortal remains is still required alongside GESY;
• employer's liability insurance with automatic renewal.

7. Set yourself up as an employer

You register as an employer with the Social Insurance Services (form YKA 01-001 at your district office), declare the hire electronically through the ERGANI system no later than one day before employment starts, and open a euro bank account in the worker's own name for the monthly salary.

Timeline honesty: four months is the official examination window alone. Once you add document gathering, translations and certifications up front, and travel and post-arrival registration at the end, most hires take meaningfully longer end to end. If you need help sooner, a live-out arrangement with someone already in Cyprus is the faster route — see our salary guide for what that market looks like.

What it really costs

Most pages quote the €460 salary and stop. The real budget has three layers: the monthly package, the insurances, and the one-off setup costs.

Monthly, ongoing

Salary plus contributions comes to roughly €530 a month before insurance premiums. Method note: that assumes contributions are calculated on the €460 gross salary — the official pages don't publish how board and lodging are treated in the insurable basis for live-in workers, so confirm the exact figure with the Social Insurance Services. On top of the cash cost, you're providing a private room and food — that's part of the deal, not an optional extra.

One-off setup costs

• Permit application fee — set by legislation; the amount is not published on the current official pages, so confirm with the Migration Department;
• certified translations and certifications of the document pack;
• the worker's medical tests on arrival in Cyprus (you pay);
• flights— you cover the worker's one-way fare to Cyprus and repatriation at the end;
• contract stamp duty — €0 since 1 January 2026.

What you can never recharge to the worker: under the Private Employment Agencies Law (126(I)/2012) and the official contract, permit fees, travel costs and any agency fees fall exclusively on the employer. Deducting them from the worker's salary — directly or indirectly — is illegal.

Health cover, explained

This is the fiddliest corner of the scheme, so here it is plainly. The official contract obliges you to provide primary and secondary medical care, including cover for transportation of mortal remains, with the premium shared 50/50 between you and the worker. But at the worker's first registration, private inpatient and outpatient insurance isn't required — care is covered by the State Health Services Organisation. Once the worker registers with GESY, you must inform the Migration Department, and a private policy covering transportation of mortal remains is still required alongside GESY. The practical upshot: budget for some private cover in every scenario, and ask your insurer specifically about the domestic-worker "Plan A" packages they sell for exactly this purpose.

What the worker actually receives

From the €460 gross, the worker's own social insurance (8.8%) and GESY (2.65%) contributions are deducted, and — for a live-in worker — up to 15% for food and 10% for accommodation. The official pages don't publish a worked net figure, and the calculation basis isn't stated; one licensed agency publishes €309 as the minimum net, and a 2025 watchdog report noted the deductions can remove up to a quarter of earnings. Treat €460 as a floor, not a recommendation — many families pay above it, and asking rates even for live-in roles on the open market run higher. Our 2026 salary guide covers what people actually pay.

Your obligations as an employer

The official contract is specific, and it's worth knowing what you are signing before you sign it:

• Working time: 6 days a week, 7 hours a day — and you must keep a record of hours worked.
• Annual leave: 24 working days with full pay.
• Sick leave: 30 days with full pay — you top up the social-insurance sickness allowance to the full salary. The first three days are unpaid unless the worker is hospitalised in a private clinic or hospital.
• Public holidays: 9 named days with full pay, including 1 January, Easter Saturday and Monday, 1 May, 15 August and 25–26 December.
• Accommodation and food: a private room — in your home, an outbuilding or a rented building — plus food (with the capped salary deductions above).
• Pay mechanics: salary deposited monthly into a euro bank account opened solely in the worker's name, with a copy of the account submitted to the Migration Department.
• Social insurance: contributions paid by the end of the month following each contribution month.
• Insurance and medical care: primary and secondary medical care (cost shared 50/50 with the worker) and employer's liability insurance.
• Exclusivity: the worker may only work for your household — no side jobs for anyone else.
• On termination: you must inform the Department immediately and provide the final social-insurance statement, however the employment ends.

What changed recently

• "You must lodge a bank guarantee." Gone. The current rules and document checklist contain no cash bank guarantee. The financial safeguards today are the signed repatriation-cost declaration, employer's liability insurance, and the euro bank account in the worker's name.
• "There's a six-year maximum stay." The official page states plainly that there is no maximum duration of stay for domestic workers.
• "Annual leave is 20–21 days." The official contract grants 24 working days with full pay.
• "Stamp the contract." Stamp duty on employment contracts was abolished from 1 January 2026 (it was €2 per copy before).
• "The minimum wage went up, so domestic salaries did too." The national minimum wage did rise for 2026 (to €979 on hire, €1,088 after six months) — but domestic workers are expressly excluded from that decree. The €460 domestic-worker floor is a separate regime.

Renewal & changing employer

Renewal

A temporary residence and work permit can last up to three consecutive years, and there's no cap on total stay. Renewals go through the same submission process, and biometrics are mandatory again at renewal.

If the worker wants to change employer

A domestic worker may change employer at most twice — three employers in total — unless the new employer is a relative up to the second degree or is over 75 years old. The move needs the original release document signed by the previous employer plus a detailed statement from the Social Insurance Services. Some situations don't count against the limit at all: the employer's death, their move to a nursing home or rehabilitation centre, their emigration, a criminal offence by the employer against the worker, or a Department of Labour Relations decision in the worker's favour.

If the employment ends

The contract can end by mutual release (the worker then has one month to find new employment), by one month's notice from either side, summarily under section 5 of the Termination of Employment Law, after more than a month's absence on sick leave, or through a labour dispute. Whatever the route, tell the Department immediately and provide the final social-insurance statement. To cancel the permit you submit one of: a letter the worker accepts, the original permit, or the renewal-application receipt. If the worker has left Cyprus, the permit can only be cancelled once they've been abroad more than three months.

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